Coca Cola Crisis Analysis (Case Study Sample)

Instructions:

I was provided with a coca Cola communication crisis in india. I was supposed to analyze the case and give RECOMMENDATIONS. source..

Content:

Coca Cola India Crisis
Coca Cola India is headed for an even bigger crisis if they cannot contain it. The strategy of coming together with Pepsi might have been diligent if the coalition could strategize on what more to do. Otherwise the company could have followed its values and plans to handle the issue. As long as the company continues to be in denial and dismiss the reports of pesticides, the more it will be prone to criticism and scare clients away. The defensive style of dismissing reports as allegations, threatening a suitcase and even planning their own experiments means that they are waging a war of words that is done through media and hearsays. This is very bad for a company that wants to appear committed to safety and is not running for last minute solutions. I will analyze how the company did huge wrong steps and how it should have handled the crisis right from the start and at this point.
In the short run Gupta is faced with the problem of handling the crisis and lifting the bans that have been placed on their goods. The CSE report based on laboratory experiments has issued a very serious allegation that can result to very huge losses. In the short run, it is surprising how the report has had a toll on their business. To the extent that parliament has banned their products and state governments are conducting research means that CSE must be having a very big influence. Gupta is wrong to assume that the scandal will die off soon and people will go back to normal. This is because this scandal has been initiated and fueled by a very influential watchdog that has even ignited government institutions and so it would keep hitting until the reputation of the company is completely destroyed.
The long term problem is a strategic team and plan of handling this kind of problems and other crises. The problem involves ensuring that this particular incident of CSE is not repeated by any other body in the future.
The crisis will take a great toll on Coca Cola. CSE having the influence it has might aggravate the issue by engaging on a one on one media war. It is already appearing that it is winning. The company has got the communication part and the handling parts wrong. They have not communicated diligently but rather defensively to the public. Their strategy does not include plans to offset and manage the resulting effects. The initial response was a bad mistake that was followed by commissioning a private research. Gupta needs to focus on the government, and then focus on the people. He needs to be collaborative rather than competitive. The crisis is able to reduce the sales by about 60%, damage the reputation of Coca Cola and possible betrayal by Pepsi if they reevaluate how they are handling the crisis.
Coca Cola India was not prepared completely to deal with the problems of CSE. According to this case, Gupta was just wandering what to do. He had not gathered any member to make a strategic plan or mitigate any damages. According to the case they in a united font with Pepsi, rubbished CSE reports. It does not seem like any of the companies tried to do a private background check or took an independent analysis of the situation.
To save the company from the crisis the company will have to act in two ways. They will first have to communicate to their clients and distributors and at the same time have to initiate strategic process to manage the crisis.
First response
They should acknowledge receipt of the CSE and are doing what it takes to handle it. They should communicate to their distributors and clients informing them that the allegations made against them are heavy and therefore the company is conducting experiments from several of their drinks to confirm if anything went wrong.
First Strategy
The company should express commitment to the crises and accusation issued and in a friendly way rather than war of words seeks for collaboration with the CSE experts. They should invite the CSE to discuss the matter compare the results of experiments and get their intelligence in a friendly manner. The communication team on the other hand should be equipped to give statements time to time about the progress.
Strategy and Communication
The comp...